1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable printer/facsimile device having a removable roll paper holder.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as a portable personal computer has become smaller in size and increased its power supply capacity, there arises a demand for the portable personal computer to have a function of printing in a ported location. To meet such demand, a product of a portable personal computer having a printing function has been put on the market. However, such a product with the printing function tends to entail an increase in its size and weight, and the portable personal computer with such extra size and weight has to be carried even when the printing function is not necessary. For this reason, a portable printer unit for connecting with the portable personal computer when printing is necessary has been put on the market. However, such portable printer unit is capable of printing only on a sheet of cut paper, and it has not been capable of using a sheet of roll paper which is convenient to be carried by a user when a facsimile function is incorporated in the printer.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. Hei 7-203092, for instance, discloses a small-sized facsimile device having a roll paper mounting portion for mounting a roll of paper externally on a facsimile body, and capable of selectively using the cut paper and the roll paper for receiving information. However, the roll paper may be damaged while being carried, and further since the roll paper is simply put on the mounting portion when used, it is feared of falling off the sheet because of inadequate stability of mounting.
In the facsimile device described above, a paper inlet and a paper outlet are provided at the top of the body, a roller for feeding originals and recording paper is arranged in the middle of a substantially U-shaped carrying passage connecting the inlet and the outlet to each other, a line thermal head is disposed in confronting relation to the bottom end of the roller, and a reading unit is disposed on the downstream side of the line thermal head in the substantially U-shaped carrying passage and in confronting relation to the roller. Further, the inlet and the outlet are used to insert and discharge the cut paper and the roll paper for recording, and also used to insert and discharge originals to be sent or copied. Since the facsimile device described above employs the line thermal head as printing means, it is difficult to use the facsimile device as a normal printer to be connected to a personal computer or the like. That is, employing the line thermal head for a printing head complicates a circuit configuration and thus impractical and difficult to constitute a printer.